Borneo

18 Stories

Stone Age Skeleton's Missing Foot Is Notable
Skeleton's
Missing Foot
'Rewrites History'
new study
Sep 7, 2022 1:29 PM CDT

Skeleton's Missing Foot 'Rewrites History'

Amputation suggests humans were making medical advances much earlier than thought

(Newser) - The 31,000-year-old skeleton of a young adult found in a cave in Indonesia that is missing its left foot and part of its left leg reveals the oldest known evidence of an amputation, according to a new study. Scientists say the amputation was performed when the person was a...

Indonesia Chooses Island for New Capital

It's moving from Java to Borneo

(Newser) - Indonesia's president has announced that the country's capital will be moved from overcrowded, sinking, and polluted Jakarta to East Kalimantan province. President Joko Widodo told a news conference Monday the decision to choose the province on the Indonesian side of Borneo island, which is shared with Malaysia and...

Malaysia Has Just One Sumatran Rhino Left
Malaysia Mourns
'Loss of a Species'
May 28, 2019 2:06 AM CDT

Malaysia Mourns 'Loss of a Species'

Country's last male Sumatran rhino died

(Newser) - The Sumatran rhino—the smallest and hairiest of all rhino species—once roamed all over Malaysia. Now, just one survives in the country. Tam, a male around 30 years old, has died at a wildlife reserve in Borneo, leaving Iman, a female, as the only member of the critically endangered...

'Very Confident' Albino Orangutan Returns to Jungle

Alba was rescued from a village last year

(Newser) - The world's only known albino orangutan climbed trees, foraged for food, and began building a nest after being released into a remote Borneo jungle more than a year after conservation officials found her starving and dehydrated in an Indonesian village. The Borneo Orangutan Survival foundation says the great ape,...

10 Injured After Passenger Falsely Claims to Have Bomb

Passengers ended up standing on the wing

(Newser) - Police say 10 passengers on an Indonesian flight preparing to take off from Borneo were injured, mostly with broken bones and head wounds, after a man falsely said there was a bomb on board. Police spokesman Nanang Purnomo says other passengers overheard the 26-year-old man, Frantinus Nirigi, telling a flight...

Borneo Lost Nearly 150K Orangutans in Just 16 Years

That's more orangutans than there are left on the island

(Newser) - The future looks bleak for the world's orangutans following the release this week of a study that found Borneo lost approximately 148,500 orangutans—more than half its orangutan population—between 1999 and 2015. “I expected to see a fairly steep decline, but I did not anticipate it...

Hiker Sets Out to Find Himself, Ends Up Lost, Gets Maggots

Andrew Gaskell learned the hard way to heed trail signs

(Newser) - Andrew Gaskell set out to find himself and, well, got lost. The Australian was rescued from the Malaysian jungle on Tuesday after spending two weeks alone in a remote section of Borneo's Mulu National Park. Gaskell had been touring Asia while trying to "come to some sort of...

Wild Orangutans Now Critically Endangered

Borneo population added to red list

(Newser) - A global conservation group says Borneo's orangutans are now a critically endangered species due to hunting and destruction of forest habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates the number of Bornean orangutans has dropped by nearly two-thirds since the early 1970s and will further decline to 47,...

Extremely Rare Rhino Found Last Month Dies

Najaq proved Sumatran rhinos aren't extinct in Borneo

(Newser) - A Sumatran rhino, whose discovery in the wild last month was "hailed as a landmark conservation success," has died only weeks later, AFP reports. According to National Geographic , the rhino, named Najaq, was captured March 12 in Indonesian Borneo in a trap set by conservationists hoping to move...

Quake Wrecks Landmark, Traps 160 Climbers

Malaysian authorities trying to reach stranded group

(Newser) - Terror on Mount Kinabalu: A 6.0-magnitude earthquake this morning trapped scores of climbers and guides, some of them badly injured, on Borneo's highest mountain, the BBC reports. Malaysian authorities estimate there are 160 people on the 13,435-foot mountain and say that since the "trail has been...

Malaysia Bombs Filipino Invaders

Military moves to end weeks-long Borneo standoff

(Newser) - Malaysia has launched airstrikes and mortar attacks against nearly 200 Filipinos occupying a coastal village in Borneo in a push to end a bizarre three-week siege that has turned into a security nightmare for both Malaysia and the Philippines. The assault follows firefights this past week that killed eight Malaysian...

Pygmy Elephant Fatally Gores Borneo Tourist

Aussie veterinarian may have startled animal, rangers say

(Newser) - An Australian veterinarian with a passion for conservation has been killed by a pygmy elephant while trekking in a remote wildlife park in Borneo. Jenna O'Grady Donley, 25, was fatally gored by the animal as she, a friend, and their guide were trekking near a mud volcano, AP reports....

Bornean Rainbow Toad Found By Malaysian Researchers: First Sighting Since 1924
 'Lost' Toad Spotted in Borneo 
Jul 14, 2011 9:52 AM CDT

'Lost' Toad Spotted in Borneo

Bornean Rainbow Toad: 1, Extinction: 0

(Newser) - Scientists scouring the mountains of Borneo spotted a toad species last seen in 1924 by European explorers, and have given the world the first photographs of the colorful creature. The Sambas stream toad, also known as the Bornean rainbow toad, had been on a world list of the "Top...

Pea-Size Frog Found in Borneo

Tiny amphibian lives in carnivorous plants

(Newser) - The smallest frog ever discovered outside the Americas has been found dwelling inside a carnivorous plant in the jungles of Borneo. The tiny amphibians, just under half an inch long, were discovered by chance by researchers making their way up a mountain road. They tracked the pea-size frog by following...

123 Quirky New Species Found in Borneo

World Wildlife Fund hails success of conservation project

(Newser) - A color-changing flying frog, a slug that fires "love darts" into potential mates during courtship, and the world's longest insect are among the 123 new species discovered in central Borneo over the last three years. The World Wildlife Fund has issued a report on the amazing finds to mark...

Indonesia Ferry Sinks; Hundreds Feared Dead

Reports of survivor numbers conflict

(Newser) - Hundreds are presumed dead after a passenger ferry sank off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, the Times of London reports. The 700-ton Borneo-bound ship was carrying about 260 people when it capsized today under a massive wave brought on by the local rainy season. Rescue efforts are under way, hampered...

Borneo Threatened by Green Gold Rush
 Borneo Threatened 
 by Green Gold Rush 
OPINION
Oct 27, 2008 1:16 PM CDT

Borneo Threatened by Green Gold Rush

New ideas on conservation needed with island's biodiversity under attack

(Newser) - Borneo, the Texas-sized island whose rain forests are astonishingly rich in biodiversity, has been plundered for its other riches—everything from rhino horns to coal to oil—for centuries. Now, with the market for palm oil, dubbed green gold, booming, oil-palm plantations threaten the remaining forest, Mel White writes in...

At 22.3 Inches, Insect Is World's Longest

Just-discovered Phobaeticus chani roams the Borneo jungle, looking twiggy

(Newser) - A stick insect called Phobaeticus chani has claimed the distinction of world's longest insect, beating out its nearest competitor by an inch, the Independent reports. Named after the amateur naturalist who brought it to scientists' attention, the bug measures 22.3 inches with its legs outstretched. A treetop rainforest dweller,...

18 Stories